Abstract
Improved nutritive and technological maize grain value is very important for its use in diets. In this work, the chemical composition and potential beneficial components, including total and soluble proteins, tryptophan, starch, sugars (sucrose and reducing sugars), and fibres were investigated in flour of eight specialty maize hybrids from Maize Research Institute Zemun Polje (ZP): two sweet, popping, red, white, waxy, yellow semiflint and yellow dent maize hybrids. In addition, digestibility of grain dry matter and viscosity of maize flour were determined. The highest nutritive value was recorded in sweet maize hybrids ZP 504su and ZP 531su which had the highest content of total protein, albumin, tryptophan, sugars and dietary fibres. Besides, low content of starch (55.32% and 54.59%, respectively) and lignin (0.39% and 0.45%) affected the highest dry matter digestibility (92.69% and 91.07%) of sweet maize flour. However, functional properties of ZP sweet hybrids were not satisfactory for food and industrial applications. In contrast, flour of ZP waxy maize hybrid was characterised by a clear and a high peak viscosity. All hybrids could be classified according to the sucrose content in three groups: a) > 4% (sweet and red hybrids-ZP 504su, ZP Rumenka), b) from 3 to 4% (waxy, standard dent and semi flint hybrids-ZP 704wx, ZP 434, ZP 633) and c) from 2 to 3% (sweet, white and popping maize hybrids-ZP 531su, ZP 74b, ZP 611k).α-Zein was the dominant protein fraction in all genotypes except the sweet maize hybrids, making 22.45% to 29.25% of the total protein content.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) ranks as the third most important cereal grain in the world
Specialty maize hybrids are the result of selection for improved chemical composition of the grain compared to standard hybrids
Considering that a significant number of metabolic disorders and diseases are caused by malnutrition, and the fact that the majority of the world population consumes maize as the main bread grain, one of important breeding objectives in the Maize Research Institute is the development of genotypes with the improved nutritive value
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) ranks as the third most important cereal grain in the world. Traditional criteria for selecting maize hybrids have been based primarily on agronomic factors, including grain production, disease resistance, drought tolerance and storage characteristics. Specialty maize hybrids are the result of selection for improved chemical composition of the grain compared to standard hybrids. Dent maize with flinty sides and soft cores of starch that cause the end of the grains to collapse or dent during drying fall between the flint and flour types. The majority of the dent maize types has a yellow endosperm, white, red and blue dents are very popular in human food products. Considering that a significant number of metabolic disorders and diseases are caused by malnutrition, and the fact that the majority of the world population consumes maize as the main bread grain, one of important breeding objectives in the Maize Research Institute is the development of genotypes with the improved nutritive value. Zilic et al / Span J Agric Res (2011) 9(1), 230-241 more detailed knowledge of chemical properties of specialty maize genotypes will be beneficial in the production of maize food with improved nutritional quality
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